Shelter Plunder Battle (2)

So this is how they want to play it.

It was exactly what I'd expected. There was no way I was going to let this slide. I accepted the defensive battle. Leave things as they were and the shelter would change hands — and among a shelter master's privileges was the authority to exile anyone inside. That could not be allowed to happen.

A roulette wheel materialized in front of my eyes at the same instant. It spun, whirling faster and faster, then clicked to a halt.

Capture the Flag?

I'd assumed a plunder battle would just be a brawl — smash into each other until one side dropped. Apparently not. These things ran according to a specific event type, and that might actually work in our favor. Defending was going to be a lot more manageable than a straight contest of raw force.

Six hours.

Less time than I'd have liked. It looked like the system at least gave the defending side a bare minimum to get ready. Watching the clock start to tick down, I called every guild member we had.

Me, Jin-hwan, Min-cheol, Kang Hyuk, Ah-ra, Jin-ri. Sang-hoon, plus Min-cheol's parents and one other student. That was the entire guild. Of those, the six going into the plunder battle would be me, Jin-hwan, Min-cheol, Kang Hyuk, Ah-ra, and Jin-ri — the strongest lineup we could field.

I would have liked to bring more people in, but the member cap made that impossible. If there had been an Awakened in the shelter who clearly outclassed us, I would have recruited them for exactly this kind of emergency. There wasn't. And even if there had been, whether they would have joined was another question entirely.

At my summons, the guild gathered in the classroom. The sudden talk of a plunder battle had left all of them stunned.

"A plunder battle? What the hell does that even mean?"

"Yeah, Ssaem. What is this?"

"Did something happen?"

"Here's the situation…"

I told them everything, straight. The plunder battle was already underway. There was no point hiding what those people had done — starting with the brutal murder of Jin-hwan's parents, and everything they were still doing now.

"Those sick bastards! That's not something a human being does!"

"He's right! We can't let people like that take our shelter!"

"This is our shelter!"

Once they'd heard it all, the room went hot with anger. How anyone could do that to another person was beyond them.

"It's not even monsters — people stealing shelters from other people!"

"I know. I never imagined this would happen first. Not in a million years."

"Who the hell are these guys, anyway?"

"I don't know. Why they're plundering, why they're collecting Golden Keys…"

Their exact goal was a mystery. The one thing I could say for certain was that they were looking to expand the guild.

"Maybe they want overwhelming military power?"

"Overwhelming power?"

"Yes. In a world that's changed like this, if you build up enough force, you can eventually run the whole place however you want."

Min-cheol had a point. With the government gone and the military gone, anyone who kept expanding their faction could twist Korea to their will. That was the reality of the situation. And once more guilds started forming, it wouldn't just be Cheonha Tongil thinking that way.

"We are not letting people like that get that kind of power."

"Right?"

"Yeah. We hold this defensive battle no matter what — and then we find out everything we can about them."

I dug through the System Bulletin Board for anything on guild wars or plunder battles. There was almost nothing. But something new had appeared since guilds were created — a section of the board that seemed to be visible only to guild members.

Guild rankings, huh.

Including us, five guilds had been founded in Korea so far.

Naturally, as the newest arrival, we were sitting at the bottom. There were more of them than I'd expected, honestly. Given how brutal the dungeons were, I'd figured there would only be a handful.

Maybe some of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the dungeons out there are easier.

Anyway. Second place: the Cheonha Tongil Guild. I had no idea how the rankings were calculated, but second out of five was still second. They were not going to be pushovers.

So their headquarters is in Haeundae.

That was the other thing the board displayed — each guild's home base. Cheonha Tongil was operating out of Building XX in Haeundae. At least we had one solid piece of intelligence on them. Once this plunder battle was over, we were going to have a lot more work on our hands than I'd thought.

Not long now until the defensive battle started.

"It's about to begin."

"Yeah. Capture the Flag, and there's nothing on the board about it."

We were going in blind. They, on the other hand, had almost certainly done this before. That put us at a disadvantage — except the event type was rolled at random. There was a real chance this was their first time with Capture the Flag too. We weren't overwhelmingly outmatched.

The minutes slipped by.

"All right. We hold the line. No matter what."

"Yes!"

"Got it!"

The numbers kept falling. Any second now.

Three. Two. One.

Flash.

"Where is this?"

The place we'd been dropped into looked like a small castle. Everyone was turning in place, taking in the surroundings, when a new message bloomed in front of us.

It sounded almost too easy. The view beyond the castle walls told a different story. A vast forest stretched out in every direction, and far in the distance sat another small castle that had to be the enemy base. There was going to be a lot of room for strategy here.

"Ssaem. Is this our team's flag?"

Min-cheol pointed at the red banner planted in the center of the castle. We had to defend this one and bring back the flag from their fortress.

Anything else I should know?

Fortunately, there were no NPC-like figures the way there had been in the dungeons. This plunder battle was going to be fought purely between guild members.

That's actually a relief.

Nothing extra to worry about. Keep it simple.

"All right. First we split into teams."

"Teams?"

"Yeah. We can't all just charge in blindly and expect to walk out with their flag."

We divided into three groups. First, the assault team: Min-cheol the Gunslinger and Kang Hyuk the Magician. Their job was to push the front line, break into the enemy building, and steal the flag.

Next, the support team: me, the Predator, and Jin-hwan the Healer. We would back the assault team's push, intercept any enemy strikers coming our way, and help hold the defense.

Last, the defense team: Ah-ra the Elementalist ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and Jin-ri the Mage. They would stay inside the castle and serve as the final wall if anyone got past support.

The assignments came together without a hitch.

"Everyone clear on their roles?"

"Shouldn't you be on the assault team, Ssaem?"

Jin-hwan looked over the split and frowned, a little doubtful. He figured putting our ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠strongest fighter on offense would give us the best shot at taking their flag. Under ordinary circumstances, he'd be right. The whole point of this was to steal the other side's banner, after all.

"No. I need to be on support. Until we know what they can do, I have to cover both attack and defense."

"Yeah. That's how I see it too."

Kang Hyuk backed me up. We could not treat this like a casual game of Capture the Flag. People could die here. I was not going to let any of mine get killed — which was exactly why I belonged on support. It was the one position where I could swing both ways and still keep everyone alive.

Let's see what we've got.

I pulled up the list of monsters I'd predated. It unfurled with a long, rattling slide. Quite a collection had piled up. Counting what I had left, I started summoning them one by one.

That's everything I can summon.

If my Wisdom were a little higher, I could have called more. A shame. And I didn't even have Medusa with me.

Time to assign them.

First, I ordered Chief — the Boss Goblin — to hold the castle with Ah-ra and Jin-ri. The two of them were a Mage and an Elementalist, and they'd only just gotten their classes, so they were still a little clumsy with their abilities. Neither of them was a melee fighter, either. Having Chief there would give the defense some real backbone.

The Venom Fairy would move with the assault team, Min-cheol and Kang Hyuk. It was fast, and I could share its sight and hearing, which meant I could react instantly. It could attack on its own and scout the enemy formation besides — as good as adding another person to the strike group.

Everything else went into the forest. They would seal off every approach the enemy might use, and Jin-hwan and I would handle anyone who made it through. Spreading them wide to choke off movement paths was the best play we had right now.

"Whoa. I don't think we can actually lose this."

"Right? We're winning this for sure."

The Venom Fairy, the Boss Goblin, and the Bugbear King could each do the work of a decent Awakened on their own, and that was before counting the rest of the monsters. The other side might have plunder experience, but I didn't feel outmatched in the slightest.

"Don't get cocky. We still don't know what they can do."

"Got it."

Complacency was a death sentence. Whatever the situation, we went in at full effort.

"We're counting on you, Chief."

"Same here."

Ah-ra and Jin-ri offered the Boss Goblin a little greeting. Chief rumbled in his throat and dipped his head, as if to say he understood.

"You too. We're counting on you."

Min-cheol and Kang Hyuk said the same to the fairy. It fluttered its wings in answer.

"Yes."

"Understood!"

A life was worth more than anything else in this world.

"All right. Get to your positions. This is it!"